Mubarak expresses support to Lebanon

Published: Sunday, February 20, 2000

BEIRUT, Lebanon {AP} Egypt's president paid a landmark visit to Lebanon on Saturday, meeting with his Lebanese counterpart and expressing support for the guerrillas who are fighting Israeli occupation of a section of southern Lebanon.

President Hosni Mubarak's visit demonstrated the two nations' solidarity in the face of recent Israeli airstrikes here.

Mubarak held talks with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud. In a joint statement, the two leaders said they support Lebanese guerrillas' right to resist the Israeli troop presence in a region near the Israeli-Lebanese border.

"The resistance is a result, not a cause, of the occupation," the leaders said.

Israel occupies a strip of territory inside Lebanon, where its soldiers engage guerrillas to keep them away from the border. The Hezbollah guerrilla group is trying to force the Israelis to withdraw. The area is the last active Arab-Israeli war front.

Tension rose sharply in southern Lebanon last week, after Israel carried out air raids that destroyed power stations and wounded at least 15 Lebanese civilians.

Mubarak and Lahoud's joint statement Saturday condemned the Feb. 8 airstrikes and Israeli threats of further raids if its soldiers are attacked. The statement accused Israel of ignoring a 1996 understanding that forbids attacks on or from civilian areas in southern Lebanon. It said such a policy "could lead to an escalation with unforeseen consequences."

Egypt's Middle East News Agency quoted Mubarak as saying that he raised the issue in a phone call with Barak earlier this week, but the Israeli leader denied Israel was targeting civilians. Mubarak replied: "You are striking against civilians in Beirut, hospitals, installations and infrastructure," MENA said, adding that Barak did not respond. "This behavior is rejected and unacceptable," Mubarak told Barak, according to the agency.